Friday, September 16, 2016

It wasn’t a typical Labor Day
Weekend knowing come Tuesday morning my husband would undergo another procedure
in the hospital.Nonetheless, we were
bound to make it a good one without labor, even though the feast for the
holiday would consist of three sticks to his side with Lovenox injections.

Added to his menu were laxatives,
magnesium citrate bottles and a half gallon of orangeade.Monday’s breakfast would be his only meal
before the operation so I wanted to prepare something scrumptious.Getting up early I set out to make a hearty
meal of ground turkey, ground beef, potatoes and wonderful herbs all simmering
in a pot.My veggie meal somehow didn’t
smell as aromatic, but we each appreciated our chow.

After eating we thoroughly enjoyed
our day reading, writing and watching old movies or baking shows on You Tube before
retiring to bed early.Up at 6 o’clock
a.m. we began the daily routine and finished our chores before leaving the
house.

I am so happy
for your visit and hope that you come back each week to participate in the
weekly challenges.God has been faithful
and we expect His favor to abound in the lives of those who chose to be
Discipled by Jesus on Daily Favor Blog.

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the bottom of this week’s post.

We arrived at the hospital by 7:30
a.m. (September 6th, 2016) as instructed and were escorted to the
waiting room for the GI department.Five
people were already there; apparently their loved ones had been taken into
surgery.I can’t imagine how early their
day must have begun.

About five minutes later my husband was taken into another
room where behind closed doors he completed more paperwork and changed into a
surgical gown.The nurse came to inform
me that right before he was taken into surgery I could go in to see him.

In the prep room we prayed together, kissed and said I love
you to one another.Then at 8:10 a.m. I
watched my husband being wheeled down the hall and out of sight.Returning to my chair I sat impatiently as
the clock ticked on, as if staring at it would make time go by faster.

60+ Minutes

The doctor said that the
procedure would only take about thirty minutes, which didn’t seem long at the
moment.I tried to keep myself occupied
by flipping through magazines not reading a word, walking up and down the hall
or replacing the voices in my head with the conversations of those around me.

I could tell that those seated
must have known one another based on the dialog they exchanged.It was a welcome interruption from the feelings
that were trying to surface within me.

Not focusing on what was
happening down the hall in surgery, I stood and walked across the room.There was a large picture hanging on the wall
that was crooked and off center.Peeking behind the frame I looked to see if it could be moved easily
without me knocking it to the floor.

I noticed a lady sitting nearby
watching which gave an opening for a somewhat humorous conversation.For the past year I’ve looked at that picture
hoping that someone would rehang it, but there it was … still as crooked as
ever.

Over the next hour the room
emptied one-by-one as the people returned from surgery.Now I was all alone … except for my thoughts.

I Called and He Heard Me

My mind was taking me to places a disciple of Jesus’ shouldn’t go, so I knew I had to get it in line with the Word of God.Although the procedures hubby was having done weren’t that difficult,
the concerns were that he was off his heart medication for almost a week.

After 30 minutes passed I grew
anxious hoping a nurse would come tell me he was in recovery.When an hour went by it was harder to control
my emotions and that’s when fellowship time with Jesus helped my faith to
overtake anxiety or fear from surfacing.

Stretching my legs I leaned over
a four foot tall side wall in the waiting room looking at the empty seats
before me.My conversation with the Lord
was hushed, almost voiceless, but an open plea for His presence to be made
known.That’s when a passage of
scripture came to mind from Psalm chapter 34.

I will praise the Lord at all times.

I will constantly
speak His praises.I will boast only in the Lord;

let all who are
helpless take heart.

Come, let us tell of the Lord’s
greatness;

let us exalt His name
together.

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me.

He freed me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy;no
shadow of shame will darken their faces.In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;

He saved me from all
my troubles.

For the Angel of the Lord is a guard;

He surrounds and
defends all who fear Him.

Taste and see that
the Lord is
good.Oh,
the joys of those who take refuge in Him!

Fear the Lord, you His godly people,for
those who fear Him will have all they need.Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,but
those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

With all my being I’m trying to
comprehend what the first disciples encountered with each step of their new
life with Christ.Everything that my husband
and I are experiencing I’m approaching differently, analyzing how I dealt with
things before and how I am supposed to handle things with the wisdom of God
that’s flowing through my blood bought veins.

I’m not expected to walk in the
footprints of those who have gone before me, but make my own imprint for the
Lord learning from them as God directs my path.Understanding this has driven me to study, pray and ask more questions
along my journey.

Knowing that there wouldn’t be
anyone with me that morning physically, I had already made my requests before
the Lord asking that He would send someone as an encourager as I waited.Over and over I confessed the Word and with
each phrase the Holy Spirit was my Comforter.

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me.

He freed me from all my fears.

My back was still facing the
outer hallway as I remained hunched over the side wall with my hands clasped
inside one another.Prayerfully I beckoned
to feel the Lord’s presence to help me remain steadfast and strong.With
my eyes closed, calmness overcame my anxiety as I took deep breaths and embraced
the moment.

For the Angel of the Lord is a guard;

He surrounds and
defends all who fear Him.

All of a sudden from behind I
felt warm arms wrapped around me, with radiant joyful sounds of delight
whispering in my ears.It was Chrissy,
an employee of the hospital from a different department.She didn’t know we were there, but was coming
from the cafeteria.Seeing me from a
distance, Chrissy ran to embrace me with kindness and words of encouragement …
just as I prayed!

Those who look to Him
for help will be radiant with joy;no
shadow of shame will darken their faces.In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;

He saved me from all
my troubles.

Healing of the Mind

If we continue to search what it means to be a disciple we cannot leave out the part where “Jesus
healed them all.”As the selection grew
to twelve disciples, each witnessed first-hand the power of healing and casting
out demons by Jesus Christ.Once their
faith fully kicked in, they were able to do the same things.

They saw people just touching
Jesus’ garment and being healed, and a key point in all of this is that they
heard with their own ears the words of Jesus telling the people, “You’re faith
has made you whole."What an opportunity
that had to be with the Master.

Fast forward to today.Is healing taught, shown or manifested in your
church or in the circles you travel?Probably
not that much; as a matter of fact most denominations shy away from the subject
of healing.

There is another area or part of
healing I’d like to address.Did you
realize that you could call on the Lord to heal and free you from fear or
anxiety as well?

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."

(Psalm 103:2 NKJV)

When we receive Christ as our
Savior our spirits are born again or “changed”, however our body and mind
remain the same.It is our faith in the
ability of Jesus that changes spirit, soul and body.Being grounded in the Word of God helps us to
understand what benefits we have as believers.Time spent reading the Bible allowed my mind
to draw on the correct passage of scripture when I needed it.

If I hadn’t known that the Lord
surrounds those who fear (are reverent to) Him, my emotions could have run wild
causing my prayers to be ineffective.Over and over believer’s witness and testify of their healing from
sickness, disease or illness, but little do we hear of people calling on the
Lord to help overcome their emotions.

Since we still live in our
earthly flesh bodies, at times we may experience bouts of fear, anxiety or
depression.It is our responsibility to take captive all
those thoughts so that they don’t cause us to sin by giving in to them.

“Casting down
arguments and every high thing that exalts itself

against the knowledge
of God, bringing every thought into

captivity to the
obedience of Christ …”

(2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV)

As true followers of Jesus we
have to believe that He is with us at all times, standing by us at work, home
or even in a hospital waiting room.He
is always available, because just like the early disciples, our journey and
calling relies on His presence.

This Week’s Challenge:

Call on the Real God Squad

As we learn to be the kind of disciple Jesus needs us to
be in this age, each lesson should churn the desire to be more like
Christ.I have no doubt that every
believer comes to a turning point in life where their faith is tested concerning
what God can really do.If we are to be
like our Master, we have to believe He can do all things pertaining to our spirit,
soul and body.

Our challenge this week requires modern day disciples to
call on the God squad – Father, Son and Holy Spirit to meet emotional needs.The undisciplined mind is a playing field for
the devil, and when he gains access to the court he will try whatever it takes
to cause us to surrender our thought life to negative things that don’t breed
life.

Whenever your mind starts to wander onto the unguarded fear
or anxiety road, be mindful of Who guards, surrounds and defends you at that
very moment.

For the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) is a guard;

He surrounds and
defends all who fear Him.

Remember that God has promised that those who turn to Him
for their help in times of crisis or difficulty will be favored with inner joy
that will change the outward appearance.When we pray He listens and saves us from our situation the way we need
to be saved (not the way we think He should handle things).

Those who look to Him
for help will be radiant with joy;no
shadow of shame will darken their faces.In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;

He saved me from all
my troubles.

The surgery on my husband did run a little longer than
expected, but I didn’t find out why I had to wait well over an hour until
yesterday (Sept 15th).Upon
returning to the step-down unit for recovery, hubby asked to use the rest room.After
being escorted to the facility by the nurses, he closed the door and immediately
fell asleep for fifteen minutes!I guess
it’s only fair since he just found out who showed up in the waiting room when
he read this post.

I didn’t know who would show up that day or even if
anyone would in the natural.However, I
did know that God the Father heard my prayer and I exalted Him over any
emotion. His Son Jesus was present and
the Holy Spirit gave my soul comfort.

You don’t have to “go it” alone.Joyfully glorify, bless and exalt the Lord as
He makes His presence known.Jesus is on
the journey with you and is always ready for action.He is willing to heal and save you from ALL
your troubles … all you need to do is have faith in His ability to do it.